ASHP Statement on Pharmacist's Decision-making on Assisted Suicide

2019 ◽  
pp. 203-205
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Assisted Suicide

Requests for euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide and the availability and application of palliative options

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARIJKE C. JANSEN-VAN DER WEIDE, ◽  
BREGJE D. ONWUTEAKA-PHILIPSEN ◽  
GERRIT VAN DER WAL
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Observational Study ◽  
General Practitioners ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Medical Futility ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide

Objective: This study investigated the palliative options available when a patient requested euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide (EAS), the extent to which the options were applied, and changes in the patient's wishes.Methods: In an observational study, 3614 general practitioners (GPs) filled in a questionnaire and described their most recent request for EAS (if any) (n = 1,681).Results: Palliative options were still available in 25% of cases. In these cases options were applied in 63%; in 46% of these cases patients withdrew their request. Medication other than antibiotics, which was most frequently mentioned as a palliative option (67%), and applied most frequently (79%), together with radiotherapy, most frequently resulted in patients withdrawing their request.Significance of results: GPs include the availability of palliative options in their decision making when considering EAS. The fact that not all options are applied or, if applied, the patient persists in the request is related to autonomy of the patient, the burden on the patient, and medical futility of the option.

Agency and Communion in End-of-Life Decision-Making

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond C. Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Autonomous Agent ◽  
Life Transition ◽  
Small Community ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Agency And Communion ◽  
End Of Life Decision ◽  
Life Decision

Both the assisted suicide and the hospice or palliative medicine movements are alike in that each weighs the wishes of the patient and family for end-of-life medical decisions. The balancing of agency and communion within small communities of support may provide the opportunity to inform end-of-life decision-making and acceptance of the dying process. In this sense, the spirit of “communitas” may instill faith that the ending of one’s life journey is both reasonable and meaningful. The role of the small community of support may be akin to that of the guide who assists the aging or dying person through the dialectic of being an autonomous agent and a communicant in the end-of-life transition.

scholarly journals Ending the life of the act/omission dispute: causation in withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining measures

Legal Studies ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew McGee
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
The Other ◽  
Common View ◽  
Legal Position ◽  
The Law ◽  
The One ◽  
End Of Life Decision ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Life Decision

The aim in this paper is to challenge the increasingly common view in the literature that the law on end-of-life decision making is in disarray and is in need of urgent reform. The argument is that this assessment of the law is based on assumptions about the relationship between the identity of the defendant and their conduct, and about the nature of causation, which, on examination, prove to be indefensible. A clarification of the relationship between causation and omissions is provided which proves that the current legal position does not need modification, at least on the grounds that are commonly advanced for the converse view. This paves the way for a clarification, in conclusion, of important conceptual and moral differences between withholding, refusing and withdrawing life-sustaining measures, on the one hand, and assisted suicide and euthanasia, on the other.

Factors that Influence End-Of-Life Decision Making Amongst Attending Physicians

2021 ◽  
pp. 104990912110638
Author(s):  
Suraj Pai ◽  
Tracy Andrews ◽  
Amber Turner ◽  
Aziz Merchant ◽  
Michael Shapiro
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Care Physician ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Eol Care ◽  
Attending Physicians

Background: Medical advances prolong life and treat illness but many patients have chronically debilitating conditions that prevent them from making end-of-life (EOL) decisions for themselves. These situations are difficult to navigate for both patient and physician. This study investigates physicians’ feelings and approach toward EOL care, physician-assisted suicide (PAS), and euthanasia. Methods: An anonymous, self-administered online survey was distributed through the New Jersey Medical School servers and American College of Surgeons forums. The survey presented clinical EOL vignettes and subjective questions regarding PAS and euthanasia. Results: We obtained 142 responses from attending physicians. Respondents were typically male (61%), married (85%), identified as Christian (54%), had more than 20 years of experience (55%), and worked at a university hospital (57%). Religious beliefs and years of work experience seemed to be significant contributors in EOL decision making, whereas gender and medical specialty were not significantly influential. Conclusion: Factors such as years of work experience and religious belief may influence medical professionals’ opinions about PAS and euthanasia and their subsequent actions regarding EOL care. In many cases, the boundaries are blurred and require further study before concrete conclusions can be made.

End of life decision making in healthcare in the prism of Council of Europe’s Human Rights Standards

2021 ◽  
Vol 2(24) ◽  
pp. 137-155
Author(s):  
Daria Bieńkowska
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Individual Autonomy ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Human Rights Standards ◽  
End Of Life Decision ◽  
Life Decision

The issue of decisions made at the end of life relating to the so-called “Right to death”, “death in dignity”, which in the literature on the subject is referred to as end-of-life decision making in the legal and medical space, arouses the interest of lawyers and doctors, and due to the specific gravity of the topic, it is also the subject of public debate. This article presents the issue of end-of-life decision making in health care in the light of the standards of the Council of Europe. The main purpose of the problem outlined in this way will be to analyze the legal admissibility of decisions concerning the end of life at the request of the interested person in the legal and human perspective. The summary indicates that despite the lack of a consensus in contemporary Europe as to the understanding of human rights, and hence the admissibility of active euthanasia and assisted suicide, the situation may change with the increasing emphasis on individual autonomy in medical law.

Ethical and Legal Issues in Intensive Care

1997 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 298-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Paris ◽  
J. Cameron Muir ◽  
Frank E. Reardon
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Managed Care ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Physician Behavior ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
Ethical And Legal Issues ◽  
Seriously Ill Patients

The findings of the SUPPORT study, the largest, most comprehensive and costly study ever undertaken on decision making for critically ill patients, revealed a wide ranging gap between patient preferences and physician behavior with regard to treatment decisions for seriously ill patients. The ethical issues raised by that disparity are intensified as we enter into a market-driven managed care delivery system. This essay explores recent ethical and legal developments on several emerging issues: the decision making process; DNR orders; brain death; withdrawal of treatment; physician assisted suicide; and the constraints of managed care.

Right to Die

2019 ◽  
pp. 71-74
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Ford
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Right To Die ◽  
Surrogate Decision Making ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Life Sustaining Treatment ◽  
Surrogate Decision ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Right To Refuse

Chapter 7 describes three cases that involve an individual’s right, in certain circumstances, to choose death. Cruzan v. Missouri is more specifically about a right to refuse life-sustaining treatment and surrogate decision-making; Washington v. Glucksberg and Vacco v. Quill are physician-assisted suicide cases, both decided on the same day by the U.S. Supreme Court and both declaring the practice unconstitutional.

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